Overpowered
by RandomDiversion
Summary: A set of short stories that are different viewpoints of a single incident.  Haruka dabbles in a traditional tengu ability not yet? used in canon. Currently there are 3 stories in this set, may add Minamoto's M-rated POV . Rating 1st Kp, 2nd M, 4th Kp
1. Kantarou's Viewpoint

**Overpowered I**

Kantarou struggled for breath as he squirmed between roots and branches. Sakata's gasps and footfalls were barely an arm's reach behind, and Kantarou smiled inwardly whenever he released a branch. Minamoto's friend cussed loudly as he was struck repeatedly in the face as the limbs sprung back.

_What you get for being a bully._

"If you don't like getting whacked you could always stop chasing me," he sputtered, though he had little hope Sakata would see reason.

"Aieeee!" screamed Sakata. Kantarou guessed the man intended some kind of warrior-'_kiai_', but it sounded more like he had stubbed his toe.

Sakata's breaths fell gradually farther behind. A dirt road cut just upslope; Kantarou debated whether it was wiser to flee on it, or to hide. In the brush Kantarou's small size was an advantage that he would lose on the road, but cleaving through it was exhausting and left a trail too easy to follow.

Still Minamoto and the others could not be not far behind. If Kantarou hid, he'd be easily surrounded.

Within a few steps onto the road-bed, what felt like fire ran over his chest. There must be an ogre in that direction, so he turned toward the other—where Sakata emerged from the brush, breathless and stomping as if his feet were clad in lead, his eyes bright with rage. He was filthy and covered in scratches.

"Found me. Your turn to hide now," Kantarou said lightly.

Sakata grinned evilly.

Kantarou could feel the ogre nearing behind him, by the growing pain in his chest. Its presence on top of his current exhaustion rendered him too weak to flee. Other nameless human minions of Minamoto crashed in the brush from both above and below the road.

_A trap from the start. But why?_

With Minamoto here, there was one thing Kantarou would not do, and that was call Haruka into danger.

He was surrounded now. The ogre was apparently an unwitting tool in this event, bound and leashed and guarded by a man. Kantarou wondered if he had a potential ally there.

_Me, allied with an ogre, like that will ever happen…_

"What's so funny?" sneered Sakata.

"Just thinking…" he replied, then gritted his teeth. Minamoto—or someone with a fair amount of spiritual power—had cast some kind of curse at him from a distance, sharp like spears, that he deflected by reflex, recognizing the attack in the same moment he realized he'd responded to it.

Now, fashionably late, Minamoto emerged from the swath Sakata had broken through the under-growth, panting with the effort enforced by the terrain, but relatively un-marked, still dignified despite being winded.

"Haven't you had enough of this?" Kantarou asked.

"I am nothing if not persistent," Minamoto said. "But, in this case…"

Another person emerged from the brush behind him—a girl, teen-aged, muttering to herself…

"Mai?"

He felt another barrage of those energy-spears from whatever spell the _onmyouji_ had cast.

She was powerful, and she was focused, and she hated him for allowing her sister to die. Mai would never believe he'd lacked the power to save Miyabi until she learned it herself, in her studies of _onmyoudou_.

Kantarou admired her potential, but he remained more powerful, and more focused, and he was patient. Eventually she would recognize the futility of assailing him by spiritual means, and go home.

Minamoto's men edged forward. With the ogre so near, the pain in his chest made him shiver, though he was now recovering his strength after running.

"Am I right?" taunted Minamoto—but his query was directed at Mai.

Mai scowled.

"Do what you will. I won't call him," Kantarou murmured.

Minamoto laughed.

"This is Mai's party," he said. "Sakata and I only came for fun. And if a _tengu_ happens to show up, well…" he shrugged.

"With me, then," growled Mai, "Unless you're afraid of him?"

Minamoto's hand rubbed briefly across the scars on his cheek—three surgically-thin lines cut by Onikui's claws.

"Of Kantarou?" he laughed. "Never."

Mai started a chant. Minamoto frowned, then started in on one of his own, each of them muttering softly so that Kantarou couldn't quite hear to make out what assaults to expect. But knowing his opponents, he could make a good guess.

What he didn't expect was an impact in the middle of his back, sprawling him forward on the road. Minamoto's men closed in; Kantarou rolled quickly, and barely avoided a kick in the head.

There were three—four if you counted the one guarding the ogre.

"There's no need to get…" he started, then felt a surge of energy behind him. He had barely the time to grab an _ofuda_ to block the attack, while dodging the tackle of one of Minamoto's henchmen.

Against curses and spells he could defend. Against the physical attack of ordinary men…he had only the defenses of an ordinary man. They were three, and he was one, and he was small and tired and distracted by the magical assault as well.

He sprang over the man who tried to tackle, and was drawn back mid-jump as a hand grasped his clothing between his shoulders. He tottered back, and struggled, but his hands were held, and when he tried to kick his assailants pulled him off-balance and he fell hard on his knees.

He spoke a defense against Mai's next attack; one of the henchmen punched him in the stomach.

He couldn't breathe. His defense against Mai and Minamoto was holding, their barbs skittering harmlessly as a result of his words. But the men who held him—he could not escape. He had thought they were Minamoto's, but…

Both his assailants had used _onmyoudou_, either directly or via _youkai_ in their control, to murder human beings. But of the two, in some ways, Mai was more threatening.

Minamoto Raiko was quite wealthy as well as fairly skilled in spiritual arts, but his attacks were always comparatively restrained by the fact he wanted Kantarou alive as leverage against Haruka.

Suzukuin Mai was also wealthy, and stronger in _onmyoudou_ talent, though less knowlegable, than Minamoto. Unlike Minamoto, she had no particular reason to want Kantarou to remain alive. If these men were in her employ…whatever she admitted to Minamoto might be different from what she'd instructed her thugs to do.

He struggled for air, the chants of Mai and Raiko blurred beyond the sound of his own heart racing in his ears. A man's hand grasped his hair, shaking his head the way a dog shakes a toy.

Then he felt something beyond his defenses, pressure everywhere, like the rising flood beyond a dike, growing stronger, dwarfing the punctate curses of Mai and Minamoto.

While their assaults were a direct attack, like anger-hot picks trying to crack through a shell, this other was subtle, and cold, and everywhere, seeking a weakness it could exploit. He felt it searching, a pressing weight on him, cold, and suddenly terrifying because it seemed to be all around.

Minamoto and Suzukuin gave no sign they were aware of it.

_It is youkai, not human…and they're pissing it off…_

He wondered what it was. And that was the weakness—his sudden curiosity, a desire to peer past his defenses at the rising flood.

In that moment the pressure found a way, like water over-topping a levy, where the barbs had failed to break through. It poured over him and buried him deep in a cold, crushing pressure, dark and soundless, far from the world of life.

He flailed for a defense. His mind raced through its catalog of chants and spells of defense and of attack, but the cold and crush deepened with every effort. He realized he was breathing, though he felt like he should suffocate. This was not a mere faint. He worried what might be happening to his body while his mind was overwhelmed.

_What has happened to me? Who is doing this?_

But his rhetorical queries seemed to plunge him deeper.

He was aware of Mai and Minamoto's spells, distant beyond whatever drowned him. Those spears could not cut this flood that was crushing him, but they might pierce through it and skewer him like a fish.

_Calm down, calm down…_

_This apparently hasn't killed me, but that might…_

He turned his attention to continuing his defenses against his old enemies.

Immediately, the pressure eased. Light and sound began to return. He felt as though he were rocketing up, rapidly, from the bottom of a deep lake where someone had been holding him underwater. The less he resisted, the higher he rose. The higher he rose, the warmer he became, and the lighter the pressure, until he felt he was floating in a warm, calm lagoon, lightly restrained.

He could see, but he wasn't looking where he wanted to, and could not turn his own eyes to look. The man who had hit him had drawn his fist back for another go at it. But that threat was in the periphery of Kantarou's view, which was focused on Minamoto and Mai.

He could feel his body, but could not himself control it. Even if he could, he lacked the strength to free himself from the men's grips, he thought. But his body maneuvered under another will, so that, relatively, his arm was where he somehow knew it should be. He immediately understood the man on that side would be thrown off-balance and lose his hold. There was plenty of time; as the punch toward his stomach moved forward, a simple extension and the man on his other arm was in its path to take its force, then land on the first. He comprehended all this without thinking it; physical restraint was a momentary and trivial annoyance.

Kantarou rolled back over his shoulder—_so short—_added a second roll, and stood up, right next to the guard of the ogre. This close to the restrained beast, his chest felt as though it was being shredded by fire-y claws, but a simple strike would cripple—_no_—he flowed into a different technique from which the guard would recover, but that launched him to topple the man who had thrown the punches.

_Free the ogre before Minamoto kills him. Worry about exorcism later. Cut-no claws-untie, he'll swipe at us...Noisy distraction! Cooperate! Let me save you._

He felt briefly as though he was pushed back into the lake, away from being present in the world.

Still, it was effortless for his body to avoid the air the ogre pawed before it fled.

"What?" Minamoto's eyes were round with surprise.

He blinked, then burst into laughter. Mai glanced at him in annoyance.

"Waa! The 'great' Ichinomiya Kantarou is possessed!"

"What?"

"Pay attention, girl. Ichinomiya-sensei has no fighting skills. Let us see how…"

_Ah, Mai_ he wanted to say, and to his surprise, spoke as he wished, "This man is no good, no good for you. You can do better. He enjoys being cruel, and he will become cruel to you if you stay with him."

"I _hate_ you, Ichinomiya Kantarou!" she spat.

There are many techniques for a samurai to draw his sword and kill in one smooth sweep, but Minamoto's was barely unsheathed before Kantarou tipped him backward to the ground and took the weapon.

_It doesn't require strength after all, does it? Longer arms would help. I am not short! Cooperate…_

He was becoming confused as to whose thoughts were whose.

"Onikui…?" Minamoto looked up at Kantarou with sudden, abject terror.

The pain of the ogre's presence had abated when it fled; now Kantarou remembered the pain of Minamoto's cursed sword playing across Haruka's sternum, of having two fangs pulled. Marring Minamoto's cheek was hardly enough revenge, and though Kantarou had no claws, he now held a sword…

_It is enough. Let's get away. Tell him…_

"Find a new hobby."

"Ichinomiya?" Minamoto murmured doubtfully.

Minamoto was not in his usual military uniform, but his clothes were of western style. Before his eyes had time to widen in fear of the blade, Kantarou hands sliced the sword neatly through Minamoto's belt, just beside the buckle.

Mai shrieked.

And before anyone could give more reaction, Kantarou ducked quickly and pulled the waist of Minamoto's scored trousers down to the man's knees.

_Good blade, though cursed…he's not hurt._

The guards were down in pain, Minamoto was tangled in his own garments, the Ogre had fled, and Mai was certainly no warrior—besides which, her attention was momentarily distracted by staring at Minamoto's unceremoniously exposed privates.

So Kantarou heaved the sword into the jungle, then sprinted down the road.

When he could no longer run, he looked back at his enemies, now far behind him, gathering their wounded and their dignity. Movement in the brush below the road must be Mai, looking for Minamoto's heirloom sword.

Kantarou collapsed. His heart was hammering in his chest. The world spun. He had the brief impression of looking at himself from the top of a tree, far from the road. Both of him—both of them—were fevered, breathless, hearts pounding from over-exertion.

Then Kantarou was alone in his own body, and shaking, and nauseated. He gripped the dirt. The sky stopped spinning, he vomited and clambered to a wobbling stand.

Minamoto had started jogging down the road in his direction. Kantarou was uncertain if he should continue walking away, or try to run. He wasn't sure he could stay on his feet.

But he didn't' have to make that decision. With a rough impact, Haruka snatched him off the road and carried him a bit unsteadily into the sky.

* * *

_Onmyoudou _is an Asian magical practice based on Taoism. A person who practices _onmyoudou_ is an _onmyouji_. This is the same word as in the anime 'Boy Wizard'/_Shounen Onmyouji_. Kantarou's magic is based on a different system.

_Tengu_ is translated as 'winged goblin'. I realize everyone reading the Manga knows this word (and others) already but people who've only seen the English-dub of the Anime might not. Haruka and Sugino are _tengu_.

_ofuda _are the slips of paper Kantarou uses as instruments of his magic.

_youkai_ are Japanese fairytale creatures in general.

**there's a next 'chapter' in this story which is the same event told from Mai's (rather over-sexed) point of view.**


	2. Mai's Viewpoint

**Overpowered II**

How had something that started so well ended so miserably?

At first Raiko was intrigued only by her proposal to join forces against Ichinomia.

Though she wasn't yet quite of a properly respectable age, with only a little encouragement, she had him stealing glances at her and to looking at her body the way suitors looked at her mother-as a woman, not as a girl.

She had Raiko on a string, she thought. He must, at some point, marry to carry on the Minamoto family line; and she was of similar social rank and considerable, though not equal, wealth. While other candidates might have a nobler pedigree, she fancied her magical talents, and the fact she might bear him spiritually gifted children, put her in the lead.

So, she could use her combination of social position and sorcery to lead him wherever she wanted, at her age without quite having to make good on any of her flirtations. While he might leave any number of bastard children in his wake among ordinary women (a fact which didn't bother her in the slightest), _she _would make a logical choice as a wife to produce his heirs.

And so he must behave in a way that would keep his family's reputation intact, if hers might join it. He must court her in proper fashion, and cater to her wishes, while she had only to tease and arouse him without ever having to actually follow through on her own overtures-at least, not for another year or two. By which time she would have what she wanted.

She wanted Ichinomiya Kantarou dead.

Not that Raiko wasn't attractive to her. He was strong, with a pretty face (despite its scars) and lean lines. And he had money, connections, and spiritual power of his own, all of which was appealing. And…something else. His kisses, given only in rare instances when the two of them could not be seen, were not the proper, dry, hesitant pecks of boys her age, but something slow and strange and previously unknown to her, his mouth caressing hers before his tongue wetly entered it. Was this a preview of how he was in bed? She was not so naïve to think he was capable of love, but his kisses built a tension in her center, a knot she imagined his strokes unbinding.

But, she did not behave dishonorably.

It was possible, wasn't it? Attractive, magically-gifted children and wealth would make Raiko's personality tolerable, if they spent much time together at all. She expected she could let him sire their brood, continuing their family lines, and live a life of rearing them in comfort and with servants while he pursued his other interests. This would be a practical arrangement, beneficial to both their families. They would be a smart match.

And, if he wanted her help against that _tengu_, then he certainly could have it. She really couldn't see what that fuss was about. Haruka had been pitifully weak against her own _onmyoudou_ attack. But Raiko insisted that Haruka was merely Onikui on a leash, and that unfettered, the tengu had terrifying power.

So she arranged this little hunting trip as something she and he could enjoy together, although there was that little lie about merely wanting Ichinomiya to suffer, as Raiko didn't want him killed. She knew the chance to torture someone else was something Raiko could not pass up. He did not realize that she could not pass up a chance to kill the little freak.

Then the entire jaunt proved to be a fool's errand.

Ichinomiya Kantarou had proven to be far more spiritually powerful than she realized, and she sensed that he still kept hidden the full measure of his abilities. Not to mention that _tengu_…for the _tengu _was there, wasn't he?

Even the venture's purpose as date with Raiko, had ended in disaster, because of Ichinomia Kantarou.

And oh, Ichinomiya was so smug—to tell her that she was better than Raiko? Who, in the world at large, was such a powerful man despite his youth? To tell her what she already knew, that he was cruel—a sadist, she even would say—as if she were too silly a girl to have noticed?

Still, that one moment when Miyabe was still alive, Mai held Kantarou pinned to the floor, testing his intentions about flirting with her mother, pointing out that he could have the same wealth with a virgin bride if he courted her instead—she noticed he too was strong, and pretty in a strange way, and…he smelled good. Poor and a freak, and certainly, as Miyabe had divined, a sinner, he should have been desperate for a marriage so far above his station.

It was insulting to be turned down by someone who by all measures should have taken any offer, even if hers was insincere.

She hated him for that, too.

They had him. She was dismayed her own magical barbs failed to pierce him, but he was cornered, in the hands of her men, who knew what to do. He'd tried to fight, to get away, and failed, being just a little freak. They hit him, he fainted, and then…what happened? The situation had turned so fast…

He looked at them, and smirked. For an instant she thought she was finally seeing the dark side he hid beneath his goody-goody exterior. But it was not the smirk of a desperate, evil man, making some final jab at his opponents before he died. Instead it was the smirk of an adult confronted and amused by a toddler's obvious lie.

He seemed to simply stand up, and her men fell off of him, and onto each other. Then he disappeared, almost in legendary _tengu_ fashion—she realized after the fact he had rolled backward, but was hidden from her view by the men who had fallen.

He reappeared by standing beside the ogre, somehow launching its guard into her one remaining man, while Raiko's old friend Sakata gasped and gaped in useless shock. The ogre's hands were freed—it took one swipe in Ichinomiya's direction, but Ichinomiya had already moved out of reach, then slashed its foot-bonds with its own claws and fled.

Raiko said Ichinomiya was possessed, then, to her eyes anyway, seemed to simply hand Ichinomia his sword and trip over backward as Ichinomiya touched his hand to take it.

She felt then an incredible weight of spiritual power, as though she was being pressed to the ground by an enormous, soft bubble that muffled the environment and that would equally muffle any magic cast within it. She sensed it was the joint effort of two minds, working in concert almost seamlessly; she'd never encountered such a thing before.

"Get a new hobby," the freak had said, in a tone usually reserved for speaking to naughty children or inferiors. It was something Ichinomiya would say, but phrased rudely, as Haruka would say it, and the expression on Ichinomiya's face held the same haughty detachment the _tengu_ usually wore.

As the sword came down she had only time to chirp; she was certain her ambitions had been dashed, that Ichinomiya and his _tengu_ had taken a lasting revenge on their enemy by unmanning him and ending his line forever.

Then, this Ichinomiya-monster, whatever he was, turned impish again as Kantarou, and pulled her would-be lover's pants down around his knees, before tossing his priceless sword and running away like the coward she'd always pegged him to be.

She was shocked, and stared at Raiko's crotch, terrified by the damage she might see.

In a second or two, there was a faint welling of blood in a line just where his private hair ended at his belly—no more scratch than one might get from a kitten. His parts lay undamaged in the open, shriveled in his fear.

And that was when failure turned to disaster.

Because…his penis, surrounded by a nest of curly black hair reminded her of…a fresh sea cucumber, laid out on a plate of _hijiki_ seaweed.

And she burst out laughing.

Which she knew pretty much put an end to her ever becoming _that_ man's girlfriend.

Yet another reason to really, really hate Ichinomiya Kantarou.

* * *

_Onmyodou _is an Asian magical practice based on Taoism. A person who practices _onmyoudou_ is an _onmyouji_. This is the same word as in the anime 'Boy Wizard'/_Shounen Onmyouji_.

_Tengu_ is awkwardly translated as 'winged goblin'. I realize everyone reading the Manga knows this word already, but people who've only seen the English-dub of the Anime might not. Haruka and Sugino are _tengu_.

_Hijiki _is a dark, curly, tasty seaweed usually served in a sweet sauce with shredded carrot.


	3. Haruka's Viewpoint

This fic has minor, deliberately vague spoilers for volume 10. (yes it is part 4, part 3/Minamoto still in-process. this is being updated to correct typos, add Japanese-word definitions at the end, and make a couple of minor re-wordings.)

* * *

**Overpowered IV**

"Go play," Kantarou said.

Haruka sped off like a dog released from a leash.

This was their third visit to this particular valley, and Haruka loved it. A small, un-tilled meadow provided the perfect take-off point for the _tengu_'s long wings, and a ridge upwind protected the valley's strong thermals that built throughout the day, carrying him up with little effort at all.

High above, a standing-wave from the ridge kicked in. He could ride up a thousand feet in a minute, soaring, yet completely still over a spot on the ground. Or, floating further downwind, he could catch a column of descending air to heave him earthward, and spin him in its turbulence. A cloud cap often formed at the top of the invisible wave, shaped like a saucer, that he could shoot through and enjoy for its chill and the sharp wind-shear at its edge.

And below, the forested sides of the valley were virtually untouched, save for a dirt road winding up then over the ridge, connecting farm-villages nestled in the flats—a scene that might have existed even in the distant era of his own youth. The trees stood tall behind the ridge, but crawled wind-pruned and gnarled near the top of the upwind slope.

Kantarou said he had first noticed the valley several years before, because of the crows and hawks that seemed to be perpetually suspended there, riding the ridge-wave. He thought then to bring Haruka here someday, if he ever succeeded in finding the _tengu_.

So when Haruka mentioned he wanted a place to fly unseen and recover his strength in flight after Minamoto's torture, Kantarou brought him here. Now Haruka enjoined the birds in games of tag and chase, purely for the sake of enjoying flight, while Kantarou lingered in the meadow, watching him fly, or at times, reading a book.

Haruka splayed his small feathers, increasing the drag on his wings, and the wind drove coolly down to his skin. He dove into the harsh turbulence of a rotor, beyond what the crows would dare, and felt a slight pinch in the recently-healed wound on his chest as the air stretched his wings. For a brief time he would match his master in having a scar there. But unlike Kantarou's, his own would eventually fade.

He looked down to see if his master had noticed his aerobatics, (and would never admit he would have been gratified if Kantarou had been clapping or showing other signs of approval) but was surprised to find Kantarou nowhere in evidence.

It was then he noticed a group of people walking up the road.

One of them appeared to be a prisoner of the others.

And the prisoner appeared to be an _oni_.

_This can't be good…_

He immediately reverted to human form, curled himself as small as he could, and fell, hoping that to distant, human eyes, he should appear no larger than a hawk diving for prey.

Wind that would have blinded a falling human was no problem for a _tengu_'s eyes; he scanned the forest as he fell, working outward from the position of the bound oni, and his search was soon rewarded by a flash of white moving among the trees. Kantarou's hurried progress and occasional flashes of darker colors behind suggested he was being chased.

_The forest is too dense there to swing down and pick him up._

Haruka had almost reached the ground when he abruptly stretched himself, body, wings, and all, arcing with amazing speed just above the treetops, and then flaring his wings back, flapping hard enough to feel his scar again, perching himself neatly near the top of an ancient camphor. From there, he could see the road, the oni with its guards, and the occasional flash of white that was Kantarou, struggling up the hill.

He moved inward on the tree limb, so that he was well concealed along the trunk, among its branches. From a distance only a human who knew exactly where to look would recognize him for anything other than a dead spire of wood.

He looked more closely at those approaching on the way, but none were familiar.

Then Kantarou emerged from the forest onto the road, a short distance uphill from the approaching _oni_. He was stumbling, clearly worn out from his climb through the brush, and began following the route down-hill.

_Go the other way, you idiot,_ he thought, as Kantarou wandered toward the _oni_. Then he saw Kantarou pause—undoubtedly sensing its evil presence..

_Dive in from behind,_ he thought. _I could take out the _oni_ and those guards before they meet up…_

He was about to take wing, when Sakata emerged from the wood behind Kantarou, barring Kantarou's escape in the uphill direction.

_Minamoto's people. Kantarou does not want me to face him again…_

_Or maybe,_ he smirked, _to de-face him again…_

Kantarou had been very angry at him for what Onikui had done to Minamoto's face—and what he did to Watanabe sent the little man into a rage.

"You cannot go about maiming proper beings," he told Haruka the next morning, at breakfast. "Do you want to become a criminal with the police after you? Or after me? I am responsible for you after all!"

"Mm, yes, mauled by your pet _tengu_ is a very credible charge against you," he replied, sipping his miso soup, which at that moment was all he could comfortably eat. "Would that be enforced by police or by animal control?"

Youko's eyes nearly popped out of her head when he said it; her ears certainly did. Frankly he wondered himself where he got the nerve to speak to his master that way, but he'd been feeling quite different since Kantarou's victory and the brief minutes that Onikui's memories and power had been unleashed.

"Agh," Kantarou growled, raising his fists to the side of his head in exasperation, then, "Ow!" as in doing so, he struck himself in the stitches. "We're just fortunate they are officially blaming their injuries on the gas explosion," Kantarou said.

"Raiko knows when to shut up," Haruka replied, sending Kantarou off on a long, noisy rant about how he too knew when to shut up—incidentally illustrating that he really did not—which fact amused Haruka but which the tengu knew better than to point out.

The party with the _oni_ now caught up to Kantarou, and Haruka saw his master walking slowly backward, trying to keep a distance from the group closing on him, undoubtedly regaling his assailants with some barrage of wit that he hoped might talk him out of the situation.

_At least Raiko won't kill him, so long as they're trying to get at me._

Then Raiko himself emerged from the wood.

_Don't trust your underlings today, hm?_

And then, unexpectedly, another figure stepped onto the road behind Raiko, and Haruka's heart lurched as he realized his master was in mortal danger.

_Mai!_

Suzukuin Mai had no interest in Haruka, and her only interest in Kantarou was to see him dead. Haruka had little doubt that whatever scheme Raiko might have in mind, Mai intended only to kill Kantarou.

And Haruka was particularly weak against Mai's _onmyoudou_ spells.

_I am strong to that _oni_, and Kantarou is weak. Kantarou is strong to Mai, and I am weak. Can I take out that _oni_ to free up Kantarou's powers before Mai strikes me with her spells? _

He saw Kantarou struck to the ground and roll, evading a kick from one of Raiko's—or was it Mai's—henchmen. A small white flash in Kantarou's hand must have been an _ofuda,_ and he knew Kantarou was under magical assault as well.

_He can handle that. But these thugs…look at that, he's pathetic…_

From this distance he would not be able to hear if Kantarou called out. But now, with greater access to his native abilities…

He secured himself amidst the branches, and tried to remain calm as the men grabbed Kantarou and dragged him to his knees…

_They each have their defenses, hard to overcome,_ he thought, _each mind noxious in its own way. And which of Mai or Raiko is truly in control here? Whose order would those men heed?_

_If I fail in the attempt, they'll kill me…_

_If Kantarou had even the most basic of fighting skills I wouldn't need to do this._

He saw Kantarou double over as he was punched in the stomach, and made his decision.

_I should be able to do it, with so many distractions going on…but Kantarou's so damn strong…_he thought, sending his awareness along the spirit plane.

Now he could perceive the focused spears of energy that made up Raiko and Mai's attacks, and it angered him that the two of them were ganging up on Kantarou.

To approach he must be soft, yet strong, his energy fluid so that those barbs would pass through without harming him.

Yet he must be relentless, and sudden, and forceful; if he were able to overcome Kantarou at all he would need to subdue him decisively and immediately, yet do no harm.

And then, hope that Kantarou recognized him as a friend. Otherwise it would be a very short and useless visit.

_So damn strong…_

He imagined himself as a flood, rising around Kantarou, powerful, yet soft, an irresistible force that could overwhelm without immediately killing.

He was startled by an instant of weakness; Kantarou's concentration had faltered. He was in!

_Curiosity, was it?_

Haruka knew he could never have overcome Kantarou without such vicious distractions, but even so it took one of the human's innate weaknesses—or was it a strength?—to finally grant him access.

Haruka hastily drowned his master as deep as he dared, pouring as much of his energy into that effort as he could, and he felt Kantarou struggling, flailing in a sudden panic, grasping at any approach to defend himself. That defense, when it came, would be harsh and forceful, and unless Kantarou realized the possessor was Haruka trying to help, would undoubtedly heave the _tengu_'s awareness back into his own body with enough force to knock him cold.

An ordinary human would already have lost consciousness from this strong an attack, leaving Haruka to rule his or her body as he wished; but Kantarou still fought. And, with Mai present, Haruka didn't want to lose Kantarou's considerable faculties against her _Onmyoudou_ spells.

_Who?_

_Calm down, calm down…_

The struggling stopped, and he wondered if he had, in fact, knocked his master out, but then felt, or heard, an echo of his own thinking…

_Calm down, calm down…_

_This won't kill me, but that might…_

And he felt Kantarou strengthen his defense against Mai and Minamoto's barbs.

_He trusts…_in a sudden rush of warm affection Haruka nearly lost his grip on his master, then held him lightly as he dared.

_Human vision is so poor,_ he thought. _And this scar—I thought he was being overly dramatic about it, but it really _is_ painful._

Fortunately, if Kantarou had no martial arts skills, neither did his assailants. They were merely larger and more numerous than Haruka's master. If Haruka wasn't allowed to go about "maiming proper beings", as Kantarou had put it, it was at least a simple matter to send them all toppling onto each other.

He ignored the pain spiking through Kantarou's chest as he rolled backward toward the _oni_—having to roll twice because Kantarou was so short. He resented the discomfort, and, in the flush of his innate power, strongly felt his natural instinct to eat the beast. But Kantarou gently nudged him from hurting the guard and reminded him that in this human body he'd have to untie the _oni_'s bonds rather than slicing them with a claw.

_Noisy distraction! _He pushed Kantarou away again, and evaded the _oni_'s claws before it fled.

It was tempting, so tempting, while Kantarou was subdued, to try to see into his mind, to learn things that might serve Haruka later in dealing with his master, or delve into his master's true feelings.

But then Haruka's own personal secrets might be revealed to Kantarou. It was more important they both survived.

"What?" Raiko's eyes were round with surprise.

Raiko blinked, then burst into laughter. Mai glanced at him in annoyance.

"Waa! The 'great' Ichinomiya Kantarou is possessed!"

"What?"

"Pay attention, girl. Ichinomiya-sensei has no fighting skills. Let us see how…"

"Ah, Mai…this man is no good, no good for you. You can do better. He enjoys being cruel, and he will become cruel to you if you stay with him." Kantarou said, for Haruka had left him free to utter any spells that might be required against Mai.

"I _hate_ you, Ichinomiya Kantarou!" she spat.

It was clear that Raiko had studied _iaijitsu_, but equally clear to Haruka that he had not mastered the art. So it was a simple matter to intercept the draw of his sword and take the weapon from him.

_It doesn't require strength after all, does it? _Kantarou remarked. Haruka thought his master was rather cheeky for someone in the grip of a possession.

_Longer arms would help. I am not short! Cooperate…_

He was becoming confused as to whose thoughts were whose.

"Onikui…?" Minamoto looked up at Kantarou with sudden, abject terror.

_Yes you vain, sadistic asshole!_ He thought quietly._ Come? Don't Come? Make up your mind...  
_

The pain of the ogre's presence had abated when it fled; now Haruka remembered the pain of Minamoto's cursed sword playing across his sternum, of having two fangs pulled. Marring Minamoto's cheek was hardly enough revenge, and though Kantarou had no claws, he now held a sword…

_It is enough. Let's get away. Tell him…_

He felt Kantarou, without conscious effort, casting a spell to stifle other magic. Haruka willingly flowed his own power behind its framework. The effect was staggering—and Kantarou hardly seemed to notice the level of power they were exerting.

_Does he _have _limits? _Haruka could not help but feel a little proud of his master.

"Find a new hobby."

"Ichinomiya?" Minamoto murmured doubtfully.

They still needed to neutralize Minamoto for Kantarou to get away. Haruka understood Kantarou's intent, and acted upon it. Minamoto was not in his usual military uniform, but his clothes were of western style. Before his eyes had time to widen in fear of the blade, Haruka guided Kantarou's hands to slice the sword neatly through Minamoto's belt, just beside the buckle.

Mai shrieked.

And before anyone could give more reaction, Haruka followed Kantarou's impish thought to pull the waist of Minamoto's scored trousers down to the man's knees, incidentally scratching the man with his own belt-buckle.

_Good blade, though cursed…he's not hurt._

The guards were down in pain, Minamoto was tangled in his own garments, the _oni_ had fled, and Mai was certainly no warrior—besides which, her attention was momentarily distracted by staring at Minamoto's unceremoniously exposed privates.

So together they heaved the sword into the jungle, then sprinted down the road. Haruka quietly began to withdraw his power.

When Kantarou could no longer run, he looked back at his enemies, now far behind him, gathering their wounded and their dignity. Movement in the brush below the road must be Mai, looking for Minamoto's heirloom sword.

Kantarou collapsed. His heart was hammering in his chest. The world spun. Haruka had the unsettling impression of Kantarou's continued presence as he regarded his master from the top of a tree, far from the road, as if for an instant the _tengu_ was the one possessed. Both of him—both of them—were fevered, breathless, hearts pounding from over-exertion.

Then Haruka was alone in his own body, and shaking, and nauseated. He gripped the tree. The sky stopped spinning; he vomited and clambered to a wobbling stand.

Minamoto had started jogging down the road in Kantarou's direction, one hand holding up his scored pants. Kantarou stumbled away unsteadily.

_We need to leave. Now._

Haruka dove into the air, and with a rougher impact than he intended, Haruka snatched Kantarou off the road and carried him a bit unsteadily into the sky.

They landed, hard, in the field by their car, which fortunately their attackers had not thought ahead to guard in case Kantarou escaped them.

Kantarou laid flat on his back on the ground, panting and gripping the grass as if he thought he was going to fall off. Haruka stumbled to his hands and knees and vomited again as he struggled to catch his breath.

After a few minutes he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Why me?" Kantarou asked.

"The others were too expendable to Mai and Raiko," Haruka gasped. "And I didn't want either of those two to observe my thinking."

"I was planning to be angry, but I think I understand."

Haruka retched again. His claws were extended, and he realized in this position his hair reached almost to the ground; his form must have been slipping. Kantarou knelt beside him, annoyingly petting his head, and looking at him intently with worried eyes. He could feel Kantarou's aura resting thickly around them both, like a blanket..

"Annoying..." he said, though he secretly wanted to wrap himself in that blanket and stay there.

His master started petting his wing-shoulder instead. Haruka folded his wings out of sight, and retched again.

Kantarou's hand landed a third time, firmly on his back, and Haruka's stomach settled almost immediately, his nausea replaced by extreme fatigue. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw the edge of an _ofuda_ peeking between his back and his master's hand.

"Sleep in the car," Kantarou murmured. "I'll protect you. Minamoto won't leave without his sword, but we need to go before they find it and come down."

Kantarou guided him a little unsteadily to the car. Haruka slept, worrying of nothing more than Kantarou's driving, confident that together they could overpower whatever enemies might come.

* * *

_oni_ = an ogre. (Haruka's alternate name '_Onikui'_ means 'ogre-devourer')

_tengu_ = a winged goblin (more like a winged elf in disposition)

_ofuda_ = those little slips of paper with arcane symbols that Kantarou uses to enact spells

_iaijitsu_ = a defensive martial art by which a the act of drawing a sword is also simultaneously either a block or a first-strike counter-attack. The modern practice is called _iaido_. It is an ancillary skill to the more widely known _kendo._


End file.
